Lu Shiyu and Cheng Meizhu quickly looked at each other and asked in a deep voice: "What's blocking it?"
They are taking the official road now. Due to the special terrain of this section, the official road is actually not very spacious, and there are woods on both sides of the official road.
Although the woods in Western Xinjiang are not as luxuriant as those in Southern Xinjiang, the vegetation is withered in this season and looks even sparse. However, there are many shadows, and it is fine just near the official road. However, if you go further in, you can't see anything. arrive.
The most important thing is that the soldiers led by Lu Shiyu are all cavalry. Assembling and charging in an open place has the advantage of crushing them at this time. However, in such a situation that is covered by trees and covered with unknown depth of snow, it is easy for the mounts to be injured. In the forest, it is impossible to take advantage of the arms.
At this moment, he heard that the road ahead was blocked. As he asked, Lu Shiyu issued an order, asking the soldiers on both wings to take precautions to prevent an ambush in the forest from disrupting his own position.
"When I return to the general, there is a big hole dug on the road. Our mounts can be led through the nearby woods, but the carriage the princess is riding in and the ox cart loaded with supplies may not be able to get through." The knight said, "And the scouts went over the big pit and looked over there. They said that not long after they passed by, a similar pit appeared on the road again."
The implication is that even if the hole in front of you can be carried over with a horse-drawn cart or an ox-cart, or filled up, there will probably be a steady stream of holes that need to be figured out next.
"Go and have a look!" Lu Shiyu said with a serious face, "Draw people's attention to the carriage the Princess is riding in. Don't let the thieves disturb the Princess!"
But at this time Sheng Weiqiao was already asking: "Why did the carriage stop suddenly?"
She lifted the corner of the car curtain and looked outside. There was a vast expanse of white surrounding her. A gray branch occasionally appeared among the jade trees a little further away. Under the vast sky, she felt indescribably lonely and desolate.
This situation does not look like a resting place, especially since they are in a hurry to leave Western Xinjiang and will not rest until absolutely necessary.
"Mother, the road ahead is not easy." Hearing this, the soldier next to the carriage walked away to inquire for a while, then came back and told her, "So someone has sent someone to repair it to make it easier for the carriage to pass. Please wait a moment!"
Sheng Weiqiao suddenly became suspicious: "When the army marches, there are scouts and vanguards in front to explore the road for safety. If the official road is uneven, they will repair it. If it is just an ordinary road that is difficult to walk, how can the entire army be destroyed? The troops all stopped? Could something have happened?"
The soldier didn't know how to answer, so he said vaguely: "I haven't seen the enemy attack before, so it shouldn't be a big problem."
"It's not an enemy attack, so it's probably because there's something wrong with the road?" Sheng Weiqiao frowned, turned to Xuan Yu Feng and said, "Aunt, could it be that our whereabouts were exposed so quickly?"
Xuanyu Feng thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "It shouldn't be possible! Moreover, if the whereabouts were exposed, why was it that the road was just wrong and the enemy was not seen? After all, we are now mixed in with the army. If we don't get close, we can't be discovered at all. A carriage. Even if a carriage is found, there are also carriages carrying baggage, arrows, etc. behind it. They all look the same. How could it be so easy to think of us?"
She thought, "80% of them don't know the purpose of the army's march, and want to test it by delaying the journey? We don't have to worry too much about this. Looking at General Lu's age, it won't be a day or two before he wants to join the army. We have our own countermeasures." .”
Lu Shiyu was watching the soldiers cut down trees from the woods on both sides and dig soil to fill the holes on the official road.
"This won't work." Cheng Meizhu whispered from the side, "If we just settle for this one hole, according to the spies' report, there are at least a dozen more holes ahead! This cannot be filled in an instant. If we continue to go through it like this, Our trip will be delayed for at least a day or two."
If it only takes a day or two, he is not very worried, because even if the news of Sheng Weiqiao in the army spreads, as the most elite Northern Xinjiang Army of the Mu Dynasty, he is still the elite cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army. Cheng Meizhu does not think that People like me cannot protect the princess of Mi Zhen County.
He was mainly worried, "The enemy only digs holes but does not set up an ambush. Eighty percent of the time it is because their real ambush is not here, but on the road ahead."
They used to come from Northern Xinjiang to Western Xinjiang, but now they are going to Chang'an in Guanzhong, so the paths are not exactly the same.
But now we were only a few steps away from Yizhou City, and the routes still overlapped.
Cheng Meizhu thought for a while and then said worriedly, "General, will you remember that about three or four days further at the current speed, there is a narrow valley? That place is very dangerous. If you want to take a detour, you must at least It’s a detour of nearly a hundred miles, and there are many rugged trails in the middle, which may not be possible for carriages. If the enemy stations troops or sets up an ambush in a narrow valley, it will be very disadvantageous for us!"
The narrow valley he mentioned is really narrow. Two cliffs more than ten feet high cut out a winding path that can only accommodate a carriage. Even if you go in in broad daylight, you can only walk a few steps and it will be dim and dark. Not clear. Some people describe this type of terrain as a sliver of sky, but in fact this ghost place is not even as good as a sliver of sky, because the cliffs are steep, but not straight down. There are some staggered places on the top, and they are full of sedge, so In some places, you can't even see the sky when you look up.
The terrible thing is that this valley is five or six miles long, and it is impossible to pass through it quickly!
"In this case, Li Jie, you go and gather a group of soldiers and horses, and rush to the narrow valley to check the movement first!" Cheng Meizhu's guess was also shared by Lu Shiyu, who said solemnly at this moment, "Since the enemy has adopted the method of digging holes to delay our attack Itinerary, obviously they either haven’t arrived at the narrow valley yet, or the other side of the narrow valley is not ready yet! In this case, we naturally cannot fulfill their wishes! If you go in advance, you can either catch them off guard, or seize the key points first. Land to ensure that our army can pass through the narrow valley smoothly!"
After leaving the narrow valley, although there are places on the road that are convenient for setting up ambush, compared with the narrow valley, those places are much better, at least they will not be unable to fight back.
Cheng Meizhu agreed and turned the horse's head to pick someone up. Lu Shiyu slowly came to the carriage where Sheng Weiqiao and Xuan Yu Feng were sitting, and said through the curtain: "Your Majesty, Mrs. Feng, can we talk to you?"
"General, please come in!" The aunt and nephew inside had been listening to the commotion and greeted them immediately after hearing the words.
Lu Shiyu thanked him, jumped off his horse, climbed onto the shaft of the carriage, shook off the snow on his cloak and armor, apologized, and went in through the curtain.
"General Lu, I just heard from the soldiers that the road ahead is not easy?" Sheng Weiqiao pushed a cup of hot tea towards him and asked directly, "But I don't know why it is not so easy?"
Lu Shiyu said: "Madam, it's like this. The spies found more than a dozen big holes on the road. The forwards couldn't repair them quickly. We had to wait until we caught up before sending enough soldiers to clean them up. So the deputy general of the last general suspected that this It's because someone wanted to set up an ambush in a dangerous terrain ahead, but they didn't have enough time, so they used this method to delay us."
"Dangerous terrain?" Sheng Weiqiao and Xuan Yufeng heard this, looked at each other, and said, "But in a narrow valley, you can't even see the sky when you look up?"
Lu Shiyu said: "Your Majesty, you really have a good memory, that's exactly the place."
Sheng Wei Qiaoxin said, with such a unique terrain, it is still the only way to Yizhou from the east. Who would not remember it
However, there was another reason why she guessed this place when she heard it. It was because when they came to Western Xinjiang before, Rong Suihe was able to bring a group of ragtag men who had been bandits for many years to kill the three thousand men of the Meng family. Luohualiushui, who was riding on the horse, chose this place to set up an ambush.
At that time, she thought that the location of the ambush was near the small village where they had been temporarily housed. However, when the team passed through the narrow valley, she casually said to Rong Suihe: "This place is really scary. Why didn't you choose this place to trap Meng?" Jiagan? 80% of the time the effect is better. Is it because it’s too close to Yizhou?”
In the end, Rong Suihe laughed and said: "This is where we started the attack! But later on, I left someone to clean up the mess, so I went back to pick you up."
After listening to Lu Shiyu's words, Sheng Weiqiao looked a little strange: "Could it be the Meng family?"
"The last general has sent his deputy to lead some soldiers to explore the narrow valley first." Lu Shiyu said cautiously, "It is still unclear who wants to harm us, but please rest assured, the Northern Xinjiang Army is not in vain. Sir, no matter what the background of the person behind the scenes is, the general will definitely send the two of them to Chang'an safely!"
The main reason he came here now was to appease the two distinguished women, so he left after talking about the matter.
The aunt and nephew were left whispering, "Is it the Meng family?"
"If he knew we were here, he would definitely do this. But logically speaking, he shouldn't know yet, right? But that's not necessarily the case."
"But considering the current situation in Western Xinjiang, who else would do this besides him? The Northern Xinjiang Army is well known to the world for its strength. It is not like the long-disorganized Western Xinjiang Army and some random guerrillas who can make up their minds. of."
"Perhaps it was the traitor that Ruru bribed? Wasn't Mi Zhen urging us to leave quickly because Ruru had actually quietly approached? Then even if Ruru didn't know we were here, she might not be willing to let go of her old enemy Beijiang. Army! Isn’t this just asking people to do tricks on the road to try their best to hold back this Northern Xinjiang army? If you’re lucky, you can even stir up dissension!”
"That's all. I'm afraid that the real culprits behind the scenes are the common people in Western Xinjiang." Sheng Weiqiao sighed, "It's freezing cold today. If the people do evil things when they are hungry and cold, we will be in trouble!"
Originally, Ruru's invasion was enough to make Western Xinjiang drink a pot. If there was a civil uprising at this time, not to mention that the Meng family would definitely launch an attack, the war situation would definitely not be optimistic.
"What common people would be stupid enough to attack the army?" Xuan Yufeng thought this was impossible. "They are not stupid. Seeing the clear and orderly appearance of the armor of the Northern Xinjiang Army from a distance, they should know that this is an army. If you are a powerful force, if you really have bad intentions, you won’t even have time to hide! Let alone make up your mind!”
Sheng Weiqiao said: "Aunt, have you forgotten what General Lu said just now? There is not just one pit on the road, but more than a dozen big pits. How can this be done in a short time? It must have been dug two days ago. Calculating the itinerary of the Northern Xinjiang Army, 10% of the time it was done by them as soon as they walked over!"
"So, most people wouldn't have expected that after the Northern Xinjiang Army arrived in Yizhou, they turned back without even taking a breath!"
"So maybe these traps are intended to deal with other people? It's just that we happened to catch up!"
After saying this, the aunt and nephew suddenly changed their expressions!